


Work in Progress

by RosieTheRo



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Comfort, Gen, Superhero!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-26
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-11 06:15:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4424588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosieTheRo/pseuds/RosieTheRo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Trouble sleeping?"</p>
<p>"Kind of, yeah."</p>
<p>"Bad dreams?"</p>
<p>"More like memories."</p>
<p>EstPol friendship, hints of LietPol.</p>
<p>Entry for apheeweek on tumblr, link in the beginning notes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Work in Progress

**Author's Note:**

> This fic isn't a WIP by the way, that's literally the title
> 
> This was a response to a couple prompts for apheeweek, specifically Superhero!AU and EstPol. It's also a bit of an experiment in giving back story without actually _giving_ it.
> 
> Prompt: http://fuckyeahaphestonia.tumblr.com/post/124840384607/aph-estonia-week-4-jul-22-28

It must have been very early in the morning when Eduard woke up.

His mind fooled him for a split second. He thought, imagined, that he was still in that room full of weapons, with those booming voices constantly telling him to "Build, build, build!" But no, no.

He was in the abandoned stone cottage in the forest, the closest thing he had to a home now. Far away from secret bunkers and unethical experiments.

He stared blankly for a few moments after being startled awake by his own subconscious. In the dim light, one eye saw the faint, shadowy forms of Toris and Raivis in the other bed, the grey stone walls around them, and that the doorway into the den was ajar. The other eye saw that his housemates' heart rates and breathing were calm and steady, and that there were no other life signs apart from animals outside. Well, except for the incredibly high heat signature hovering around the back yard, but he'd known that would be there.

He let out a sigh, plastic lungs creaking in his chest as they pushed the air out, and rolled onto his back, kicking the blanket off. Quietly as he could, he climbed out of bed and walked towards the door, mindful of his limp. He hoped Toris and Raivis would be able to find the materials to finish both his legs on their next salvage trip, or at least enough to make sure his shins were the same length.

Hobbling slightly, he stepped out of the bedroom and through the small cottage, passing the sparse and old furniture and tiny kitchen, heading for the back door. He grimaced as he recognized the oncoming sense of fatigue associated with his power cell running low, knowing that he only a few more left from when he'd escaped that awful place. Maybe he should have stayed in bed, he thought, conserved what he still had.

Then he stepped outside for the first time in weeks and decided that, no, he really did need this.

It was a new moon out that night, with almost no cloud cover. He crossed the small back yard and leaned on the stone wall marking the edge of the property, and looked up at the stars. He didn't need his databanks to tell him their names. He still remembered them well, from that camping trip when he was young. He'd read that whole astronomy book on the drive out there and then lay back on the grass, pointing them out one by one.

And Mom and Dad had hung onto every word. So proud of their clever little boy.

Eduard swallowed thickly, dropping his gaze and rubbing a metal hand across his face. 

His sensors registered a sudden increase in temperature coming closer, and he glanced over his shoulder, one eye squinting, the other's lens adjusting at the fiery figure gliding towards him.

"Hey," Feliks offered with a little smile.

"Hey," Eduard replied, nodding.

"Trouble sleeping?"

"Kind of, yeah."

"Bad dreams?"

"More like memories."

Feliks nodded sympathetically, floating over and propping his elbows up on the wall, keeping his feet up off the ground. 

"Takes some getting used to, doesn’t it?" he asked. 

Eduard looked down at his hands. One was nearly finished, with a metal shell in place covering the inner workings. The other was still being built, with only two working fingers and a thumb so far, rubber tendons and metal bones exposed.

"It’s definitely different," he mumbled. 

"Wanna talk about it?"

His lungs creaked again. "What's there to talk about?"

"A lot," Feliks mused, crossing his arms and resting his chin on them. He was floating horizontally in the air now, as if lying on his stomach. "If you want to, of course." His legs kicked slowly in the air.

"...do you ever get used to it?"

"Probably? Like, eventually, I guess. I still forget I can't touch certain things now."

Eduard glanced at a large scorch mark in the grass nearby, one that was a few days old. They really were so lucky to find a house made of stone, weren't they?

"Have you tried turning it off again at all?" he asked.

"Yeah, like, every day," Feliks huffed. "I think it's 'cuz I wasn't born with it, and that's why I can't control it as well, you know? Toris told me he just has to think about changing and poof! There he goes."

Eduard's lips quirked up, amused at the image of Toris "poofing" between forms.

"But, we're supposed to be talking about you, right?" Feliks continued. 

Eduard raised an eyebrow. "Are we?"

"Yeah, you're the one who can't sleep."

"Technically you can't either."

Feliks shot him a withering look. "Okay, but you're the one who still _needs_ sleep, so don't get sassy with me."

Eduard actually snorted, covering his mouth with his unfinished hand to muffle his laughter.

"What?" Feliks asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, nothing," Eduard sighed, looking out into the woods beyond the wall. "It's... weird. Talking to someone like this again."

"Like what?"

"...Like I'm a human being."

There was a long, heavy pause. Eduard's mechanical eye traced the heat signature of a raccoon plodding along past the trees.

"Okay, you seriously need to heat-proof yourself already," Feliks said abruptly. "'Cuz I can't hug you right now, and that's driving me nuts."

And Eduard couldn't help but laugh again, looking over at Feliks with a smile. "The sentiment is appreciated."

Feliks smiled back, and then his white eyes went wide. "Oh!"

He suddenly shot up into the air, zooming back towards the cabin. "I just remembered!"

Eduard watched, puzzled and curious, as Feliks shifted through the small pile of dead power cells sitting by the back wall of the cottage. Even though they were empty and useless, they still had no idea what to do with them, only knowing that leaving them elsewhere could make them easier to track.

"Check this out!" Feliks grinned as he flew back over, a power cell in his hands. Designed to fuel an incredible array of very dangerous weapons, the little square super-batteries were one of the few things that could survive direct contact with Feliks's body. "I just figured out I could do this earlier tonight!"

Eduard raised an eyebrow, watching the little grey box in his friend's hands as Feliks bit his lip and furrowed his brow in concentration. His sensors registered a spike in temperature, and then he was amazed to see the cell light up again, turning that cool, soft blue that indicated a full charge.

"Bam!" Feliks said proudly, holding out the glowing cell. "Solar power, baby!"

Eduard gaped, and then grinned, delicately taking the cell in the tips of his metal fingers. "Feliks, this is brilliant!"

"Yeah, it's pretty sweet," Feliks drawled, sounding like he was trying to be smug but actually looking a bit abashed. "Thought you might like it."

"No, do you know this means!?" Eduard gushed, brain cells and circuits running rapidly with excitement. "I don't have to keep conserving power! I can move and walk around more, and I can get work done! I can finish that hologram generator and go on salvage trips! Feliks, I can finish _fixing_ myself!"

He looked up and saw that Feliks was absolutely beaming, literally in fact, and was sure he must have had a similar expression on his face.

“Feliks, I can’t thank you enough,” he said, voice feeling thick. “This is… oh my god.” He shook his head, laughing only a little hysterically. “I owe you so much.”

“Hey, we’re a team, all right?” Feliks said, shrugging. “We look out for each other. It’s just what we do.”

“Yeah.” Eduard trailed off, gazing down at the cell in his hands. “Nonetheless, as soon as I figure out how to heat-proof myself, I’m making something that can contain your energy. I can’t let you go hug-less forever now, can I?”

Feliks laughed. “You are _so_ sweet, you know that? Though, I can always bug Toris for hugs, he still puts up with it.”

“You’re lucky I do.”

The pair at the wall glanced back towards the house, Toris and Raivis standing on the tiny back porch, illuminated by Feliks’s light.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” Raivis said, looking a little guilty. “But, you got kind of loud. Well, not ‘loud,’ but, you know…”

“Its fine,” Eduard smiled. 

“You’re not gonna seriously cut me off from hugs, are you?” Feliks interrupted with a pout.

Toris tried to look stern for a moment, before shaking his head with a wry little smirk. “As if I could say ‘no’ to that face…”

And to drive it that home, he opened his arms, skin shifting smoothly and quickly into metal.

Feliks actually squeaked with delight as he shot into Toris’s arms, making him stumble back a few steps as he clung to him.

“It’s four in the morning, how on Earth are you still this hyper?” Toris groused playfully, arms hanging out awkwardly.

“Uh, ‘being of pure energy,’ dude. It’s in my nature. Oh, which reminds me, you gotta see this!”

He grabbed Toris by the arm instead, dragging him over to the pile of dead cells, probably to show off his new trick.

Eduard snickered to himself as he watched the two of them. They’d turn out alright as long as they had each other, he thought.

He felt something nudging at his mind, a gentle but nervous presence worming its way into his head. He glanced over at Raivis, still standing by the porch. His pale eyes were wide and worried looking, but Eduard gave him a small smile.

_Talk to me, Rai, it’s alright._

Raivis blinked, and nodded quickly.

_You felt really upset earlier. Are you okay?_

Eduard looked at the younger boy, then over at Feliks and Toris by the side of the house. He glanced down at the power cell in his hands, thrumming quietly with energy. His smile widened.

_I will be._


End file.
